Alliance Member Focus: Ralia

- Thank you so much, Ralia, for being this spotlight of our member profile this Quarter! Tell us a little about yourself and your LotRO experience - how long you've been playing, your characters, favourite classes, etc.

I appreciate this opportunity to share the tale of Ralia both in-game and in real life. My friend in RL Asherin got me into playing LotRO during Beta where I played a loremaster called Alexisrandir. Up to this point I would not call myself a major gamer, I never really played MMOs or First Person games, preferring Civilizations, SimCity or Total War where building nations or tactics were the primary focus. To get my fantasy fix I would run Dungeons and Dragons campaigns as the DM, on a world that I created. Initially skeptical about playing a game that would require monthly payments, I was resistant to starting a MMO but the strong urge to explore the world of Tolkien, which inspired me as a child, was too much to ignore, so I gave in. The one thing that has always kept me returning to LotRO is the attention to detail, beautiful landscapes, compelling storylines, the welcoming nature of the community and after 10 years of playing that has not changed.

When Beta Testing ended I decided to stick with the game and Asherin bought me a lifetime subscription to LotRO, giving me more than enough reason to make it my primary choice of gaming over the coming years. Choosing Landroval as my home, I created a minstrel named Ralia Mhael, which was mostly due to the high need of healers in raids and grouping. In those days, leveling a minstrel was an insane task, there was no war speech mode and offensively they had very little skills, leading to many deaths and resulted in Ralia never getting the undying title. I also created 3 other primary characters to allow me to break the tediousness of leveling a mini and to assist with crafting, a Dwarf Champion named Ralathorn, a Captain named Ralathir and a man Burglar named Ralanaucht. I leveled each of these characters equally until the creation of the essence and imbuement systems where it became very apparent that I would not have the time to devote to those grinds, so I settled on my mini.

Over the years, I have led two medium sized Kins, Wanderers of Forochel and Steel Against The Storm, and gained great renown as a raid healer among many veteran players, creating long lasting friendships. I have also spent year or two as a solo player just enjoying the game itself.

In June 2014 I joined The Alliance after a year of soloing and was quickly promoted to the rank of Officer and one year later, I became the Leader of the Alliance after the founding leader Faral stepped down. If you’re looking for more history on The Alliance Werrick prepared a great history and timeline which can be found here: http://alliancekinship.shivtr.com/forum_threads/2694870

My favorite class of all time is the Burglar, because its combat model is very unique but since leveling and deed grinding is very slow I have not done as much as I like with mine. Based on my current play style I prefer the Mini and the Hunter, which are the only classes that I am setting up to be raid ready.

Currently, I don’t play as much as I use to and hardly raid, which is mostly due to RL being very busy but I try to log in every day to check my mail and wave hello to the members of The Alliance.

-What social kin and server events are you involved in? Do you roleplay at all?

In my early years on Landroval, I did roleplay from time to time and even created my one and only Hobbit, Ralajonnyboo in order to participate with the Jonnyboo’s RPG kin, but I never really could get into it like I would playing D&D because I am not a very fast typer.

The seasonal festivals put on by Standing Stone is something I also enjoy doing because I am horse collector but also to enjoy a different type of grind with a enjoyable theme.

One of the great things I love about Landroval is the amount of bands we have and how often you can just run into one playing in Bree. This is reflected in the amount of music festivals we have on this server, including the largest and oldest festival, Weatherstock put on by the Lonely Mountain Band. http://weatherstock.guildlaunch.com/?gid=316072

The Alliance does have our own private parties from time to time but recently due to my restricted game time I have not had a chance to put one together but it is my hope to put on a large party next year to celebrate the 8th anniversary of The Alliance. It has always been a dream of mine to have a large-scale, server wide event run by the Alliance like Weatherstock or The Symphony of Light and as our membership grows this could become a reality.

-You have been the leader of The Alliance for two years, what are your thoughts on the kinship's growth and development during your tenure? What has surprised you most during this time about the kinship/membership?

Wow, has it been two years since I took over the Leadership, it seems like only yesterday that I began the journey to rebuild and rebrand The Alliance into the largest and most active kins on the Landroval server. There has been many ups and downs over the last two years but having an established Codes of Conduct, a clear mandate and Officers that believe in the ideals and vision I have, the experience has overall been enjoyable. Although I have lead kins before, I have never been responsible for one of this size and without the support and dedication of the Leaders Council and Commanding Officers, I could not hope to manage it, so I am eternally grateful for everything they do. The Alliance membership continues to grow at an amazing rate and we currently stand at 475 members, which simply blows my mind that in only 2 years we have grown so rapidly and continue maintain this growth. We should all be proud of the safe, comfortable and relaxing environment that we all contribute to and I am very honored to be considered the Leader of The Alliance and humbled by all your support.

-If you'd like, tell us about yourself IRL.

I am 41 years old and was born in Vancouver B.C. Canada, were I currently reside. In 2016, I went back to university to become a Real Estate Analyst and get my broker’s license, which I should complete by December. I also become a Father for the first time in October 2016 of a beautiful baby girl named Vivienne Emily Rebekah Sittrop. Basically, I have hit the reset button on my life so I am truly heading into unknown territory but I welcome the adventure before me and look forward to the future.

In my youth, I was an actor and performed lead in many theatre pieces, while being a star athlete in Track and Field, Soccer and Football. In my graduation year I was offered football scholarships to several Universities but due to suffering a major leg injury during the play offs, I was unable to move forward in this career. I moved on to construction and security, working my way up to project manager in 5 years and eventually started my own company. When my Father took ill in 2008, I closed down my company and started working for my Uncle while taking care of my Father. In 2016 my uncle closed down his company leaving me without a job and the day after I found out that my girlfriend was pregnant so I decided to re-educate myself to start a new career. On April 21 2017, during my final exams my Father passed away and since that time my life has been very emotionally stressful but having the ability to escape to LotRO, has helped with this.

In truth, I am just an average guy that enjoys reading both fiction and historical books and getting together with friends for a night out on the town or a epic D&D campaign. A city boy at heart, I also enjoy getting out for a walk in the many forests and parks surrounding Vancouver or catching an Opera or theatre piece every now and then.

The Alliance is a large component of my life, being part of this community and being your Leader means the world to me and I thank you all for continuing to be members of this great kin, making it a welcoming second home for all of us.

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